HE KISSED, GROUPED AND TOOK NUDE PHOTOS OF. JUST ONE DAY BEFORE BRYON HEFNER WAS SET TO STAND TRIAL FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT, THE ESTRANGED HUSBAND OF STAN ROSENBERG ANNOUNCED HE WAS CHANGING HIS PLEA TO GUILTY. >> I APOLOGIZE TO THE VICTIMS FOR ANY HARM I MAY HAVE CAUSED THEM. AND FOR ANY POT PAIN I CAUSED THEM -- ANY PAIN I CAUSED THEM. MAP: HE PREVIOUSLY PLEADED GUILTY, BUT CHANGED HIS PLEA ON ASSAULT AND BATTERY AND DISSEMINATION OF NUDE IMAGES WHILE THE OTHER CHARGES WERE DROPPED. >> WHEN WE SEE SEXUAL ASSAULTS, PARTICULARLY SEXUAL ASSAULTS OF THIS NATURE, IT IS ABOUT EXERTING POWER. MATT: THE ALLEGATIONS CAME TO >> THE ALLEGATIONS CAME TO LIGHT AND RESULTED I ROSENBERG’S RESIGNATION. TIES ARE TO BEACON HILL WERE NOT PRESENTLY, BUT GAVE WRITTEN STATEMENTS. >> I WAS TERRIFIED TO TALK ABOUT THE INCIDENT OR AFTERMATH AND FELL INTO A DEEP DEPRESSION, BELIEVING MY CAREER WAS IN JEOPARDY. >> HEFNER DID NOT SPEAK WITH REPORTERS WHILE EXITING THE COURT, BUT HIS ATTORNEY SPOKE BRIEFLY. >> IT IS A GOOD RESOLUTION FOR THE VICTIMS. >> HEFNER COULD HAVE BEEN SENTENCED TO 12.5 YEARS IN JAIL, BUT THE JUDGE WENT WITH THE PROSECUTION’S RECOMMENDATION AND GIVE HIM PROBATION AND A ONE YEAR SENTENCE THAT WAS SUSPENDE

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Bryon Hefner changes pleas to guilty in sexual assault case

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Updated: 7:44 PM EDT Sep 10, 2019

Bryon Hefner, the estranged husband of a former president of the Massachusetts Senate, changed his plea Tuesday one day before his trial on sexual assault charges was scheduled to begin.State prosecutors had accused Hefner sexually assaulted and harassed four men, all of whom had professional ties to Beacon Hill, from 2014 to 2016.Hefner, 32, pleaded guilty to charges of indecent assault and battery, assault and battery and dissemination of a nude image. Tuesday's hearing was originally scheduled to be the final pretrial hearing in the case.He faces up to 12 and a half years of incarceration for the crimes, the judge said. Hefner will also be required to register as a sex offender. While the sexual assault case was pending, Hefner pleaded guilty in August to making hundreds of harassing phone calls to a treatment facility where he was a patient. The calls targeted the hospital's landline, two cellphones and multiple staff members, according to the DA's office.In that case, he was sentenced to one year of probation, with requirements that he stay away from the hospital facility, complete 50 hours of community service, not use any prank call services and comply with mental health treatment.Stan Rosenberg, the former State Senate President, resigned after a bipartisan ethics committee found he "failed to protect the Senate from his husband, whom he knew was disruptive, volatile and abusive." The special investigation concluded that Rosenberg did not violate any formal Senate rules, but did "demonstrate a significant failure of judgment and leadership" in his role as Senate president.

BOSTON —

Bryon Hefner, the estranged husband of a former president of the Massachusetts Senate, changed his plea Tuesday one day before his trial on sexual assault charges was scheduled to begin.

State prosecutors had accused Hefner sexually assaulted and harassed four men, all of whom had professional ties to Beacon Hill, from 2014 to 2016.

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Hefner, 32, pleaded guilty to charges of indecent assault and battery, assault and battery and dissemination of a nude image. Tuesday's hearing was originally scheduled to be the final pretrial hearing in the case.

He faces up to 12 and a half years of incarceration for the crimes, the judge said. Hefner will also be required to register as a sex offender.

Stan Rosenberg and Bryon Hefner

While the sexual assault case was pending, Hefner pleaded guilty in August to making hundreds of harassing phone calls to a treatment facility where he was a patient. The calls targeted the hospital's landline, two cellphones and multiple staff members, according to the DA's office.

In that case, he was sentenced to one year of probation, with requirements that he stay away from the hospital facility, complete 50 hours of community service, not use any prank call services and comply with mental health treatment.

Stan Rosenberg, the former State Senate President, resigned after a bipartisan ethics committee found he "failed to protect the Senate from his husband, whom he knew was disruptive, volatile and abusive."

The special investigation concluded that Rosenberg did not violate any formal Senate rules, but did "demonstrate a significant failure of judgment and leadership" in his role as Senate president.